• Name: Victor Lindelof
• Birthdate (Age): 17th July 1994 (26)
• Signed: 1st July 2017
• Appearances: 116
• Appearances This Season: 47
• Clean Sheets: 19
• Goals Conceded: 43
• Contract Till: 30th June 2024

Analysis:

Victor Lindelof had a great 2018/19 season and was considered the strong point of our defence. His performance against sides like Juventus and Paris Saint Germain was really commendable and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looked to strengthen the defence by finding him a suitable partner. We signed Harry Maguire who came in and changed the shape of our defence. However, Maguire and Lindelof both have the same weakness – their tendency to get got out by their lack of pace. Lindelof started 35 out of a possible 38 Premier League games and only conceded 32 goals. This is a massive improvement over the 2018/19 season where he conceded 40 goals in the Premier League in 30 starts. He still wasn’t very reliable and there is a sense of tension when an opponent’s forwards darts into our defensive third or when the other team is crowding our box. Top defenders like Sergio Ramos, Virgil Van Dijk and Kalidou Koulibaly have that air of reliability that Lindelof is yet to reach. He’s also a little shaky while picking out a man in the box which we saw multiple times in the season but were finished for against Sevilla in the semi-finals of the Europa League. It was partially Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s fault as well but Lindelof needs to share the blame too.

The Europa League semi-finals disappointment left a bitter after-taste for most fans and it’d be easy to criticize the Iceman but when we look at the season as a whole, Maguire and Lindelof have improved our defence. That said, I feel that he can not be in our first choice centre-back pair for next season. We need to sign a pacey centre-back who isn’t afraid of taking on attackers higher up on the pitch and Lindelof can be used as a rotation option off the bench. Because even though Lindelof is a great defender, we can not rely on him for about 60 games next season. Especially with Champions League games coming in with an already packed Premier League schedule, we will need another defender. We are one injury away from playing Eric Bailly and after that, 5 minutes away from playing Phil Jones, and after that, 5 minutes away from pining our hopes on Teden Mengi.